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01/11/2004 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Central League Draft Special Part II"
Yakult
Grade: C
This class could go either way. Either they all will prove to be solid additions or complete wastes of time. None of them, though, is likely to be a star.
Name: Kawashima, Ryo/P
Born: 9/9/1981
Birthplace: Chiba Prefecture
Height: 5'11" Weight: 173 pounds
Bats: Left Throws: Right
High School: Chiba Keidai Fuzoku High School
College: Hachinohe University
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Started playing organized baseball in Pony League in junior high. Was his team's pitching ace starting his junior year in high school. Threw six shutout innings last year against a U.S. collegiate all star team and was named the winning pitcher. Clocked as high as 93mph, but his fastball is straight and it tends to backup over the hitting zone at times. Recently added a shuuto and is working on polishing his presently third rate curve ball. Otherwise has a slider, a forkball and a changeup. Likes to throw inside. Tends to finish standing almost straight up, meaning that he doesn't get his back through the ball, giving one the feeling that he is strong arming the ball up to the plate, and he will leave more pitches up than he should. Has a good arm swing and gets on top of the ball in fine shape. May also have some stamina issues and a shoulder injury is certainly a possibility. He throws strikes, though, and has exciting future possibilities if he corrects some minor flaws. Will probably be given a rotation shot as a rookie due to Yakult's dubious starting pitching situation right now, but in practical terms may be a year or two away from being really pro ready, much like Yuhei Takai was. Signed for a $950,000 bonus, a $135,000 salary and more than $450,000 in incentives. Will wear number 17, Kenjiro Kawasaki's old number. Has also bought season seats at Jingu Stadium to give away to handicapped kids.
MPG File
Name: Yamada, Yuji/P
Born: 7/9/1985
Birthplace: Ishikawa Prefecture
Height: 5'11" Weight: 182 pounds
Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Komatsu Municipal High School
College: N/A
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Maxes out right at 90mph. Has a mediocre curve, a changeup with strong sink on it, splitter and slider as well as good elbow mechanics in his three quarter delivery. Sports Nippon rated him as the top high schooler from a mechanical standpoint. Is so flexible that he can be described as double jointed. However, his control is inconsistent due to a tendency to lose his release point. He is still coming on, though, so his future prospects are kind of hard to judge right now. So let's wait a couple of years and see how he does in the minors.
Name: Aoki, Norichika/CF
Born: 1/5/1982
Birthplace: Miyazaki Prefecture
Height: 5'9" Weight: 170 pounds
Bats: Left Throws: Right
High School: Hinata High School
College: Waseda University
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Started playing baseball in sixth grade. Had been a pitcher in high school before going to the outfield at Waseda. Played in two Koshien Tournaments. Won a Tokyo Big Six University League batting title (fall 2002). Batted .363 overall as a collegian with no homers and 16 RBIs. Scored six runs in a game against Tokyo University, a Tokyo Big Six University League record. Suffered a broken ring finger in practice, but came back in three weeks, which proved to be too soon, as his average slumped into the low .200's that season. Has blazing speed (5.8 seconds in the 50 meters) and has been compared to Norihiro Akahoshi. Covers big chunks of ground and has a cannon. Slaps the ball around and tries to use his speed. However, there are doubts about his ability to handle hard stuff inside. Grabbed a nearly $700,000 bonus, a $95,000 salary and will wear number 23. MPG File
Name: Yoshida, Yukio/P
Born: 9/13/1985
Birthplace: ?
Height: 5'11" Weight: 162 pounds
Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Shirosato High School
College: N/A
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: According to Hochi Sports, had an offer from San Diego, but apparently ultimately decided to stand for the draft in hopes of being picked up by the Swallows. If he was picked by somebody else, he would have taken the Padres deal, according to Sankei Sports. Said that once he qualifies for free agency, he will go to MLB. Has a 90mph max fastball and a curve and a slider. His weight transfer needs work, as his arm and shoulder are bearing almost all of the load to generate velocity. Has some concentration and poise issues as well. But he could add more velocity as he improves getting his legs behind the ball and his strong upper body matures. Can throw strikes with regularity, but doesn't yet have the fine tuned mechanics to really paint the corners. Worth keeping an eye on. Took a $380,000 signing bomus and a $45,000 salary (beats making $800 a month in rookie ball, I guess). He will wear number 54.
Name: Sato, Masaru/P
Born: 12/6/1981
Birthplace: Haguro, Yamagata Prefecture
Height: 5'10" Weight: 193 pounds
Bats: Left Throws: Left
High School: Haguro High School
College: Meiji University
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Majored in political economics at Meiji. Listed at 5'9" 187 pounds in college. Nickname is Haguroyama, after a former sumo yokozuna. Southpaw sidearmer with good control, a high 80's fastball, sinker, curve, slider, and shuuto. Had originally come from over the top, but went sidearm as a college junior. Throws across his body. Pitched in just 12 games with a 3.24 ERAat Meiji, so may require seasoning. Describes himself as fat and hardly cuts a dashing figure on the hill, but may end up making his living as a specialist against lefthand hitters. However, he may also be tried out as a starter. Thought he was bound for the industrial leagues before being picked in the draft. Will wear number 13.
Hiroshima
Grade: D
They went with just five picks due to financial concerns and hoped that quality would be enough to conquer quantity. Unfortunately, their team has enough holes to fill the Albert Hall, as the song says, especially in their pitching staff. This just did not get the job done.
Name: Shirahama, Yuta/C
Born: 10/31/1985
Birthplace: Hiroshima Prefecture
Height: 5'11" Weight: 158 pounds
Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Koryo High School
College: N/A
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Started playing softball in second grade. Played Senior League in junior high as a shortstop. Became a catcher after entering Koryo. Played in four straight Koshien Tournaments. Batted cleanup as a senior, posting a .409 average. There are some fans who are calling him the next Kenji Johjima, but manager Koji Yamamoto will settle just for someone who can throw runners out on the basepaths, something his two other main backstops, Yoshiyuki Ishihara and Shuji Nishiyama, were pathetic at. Has efficient footwork and a strong arm that gets the ball to second in under two seconds and frames pitches very well indeed. But he also has a tendency to do more double clutching than one would feel comfortable with and while he is solid at blocking pitches in the dirt, he also drops a lot of much easier pitches around the plate, which is probably a concentration thing. Yamamoto believes that he will be ready quite soon once the relatively minor defensive faults are ironed out. Reportedly has a good eye at the plate, hits pitches up in the zone with authority and possesses good bat speed that allows him to commit later so that he gets a good look at the ball and where it's going.. However, he doesn't use his legs very well and, really, it is pretty unlikely he will produce like Johjima, who plays in a much larger ballpark, does. A Hiroshima scout was quoted in the Nishi Nihon Shimbun as saying that Shirohama could be more akin to Atsuya Furuta, though Furuta turned pro from the industrial leagues and not high school. Furuta would definitely be a more realistic goal. Will wear number 12.
Name: Higa, Toshimitsu/3B
Born: 4/19/1981
Birthplace: Okinawa Prefecture
Height: 6'1" Weight: 182 pounds
Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Okinawa Shogaku High School
College: Waseda University
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Started playing baseball in second grade. Just what the Carp needs: another infielder with defensive shortcomings. Higa, who played to Toritani's right as Waseda's third baseman, has some major pop, but issues with the glove. This is becoming a pattern, as he joins Takahiro Arai, Kojiro Machida, Itsuki Asai, and Kenta Kurihara in that regard. Somebody should send them a recording of Keith Jackson exclaiming, "fumble!" so that they can use it at their home games. This would be a case where the "bobble-heads" are real people, if you get my drift. Okay, enough of that. Higa, who had played short in high school, was team captain then as well as in college, where he batted cleanup. Propelled his high school to the first ever Koshien title for an Okinawa-based school (spring 1999). Has a strong arm, but is probably no better than an Akira Etoh with the glove (clank!).Does not run well. Clubbed nine career homers as a collegian with a .260 average and 47 RBIs, but is probably going to strikeout a lot, like Arai. Needs to shorten up his stroke, since he kinds of waves the bat through the zone right now. Coaches will want to focus on the way he uses his legs, since he doesn't really get his weight back. Does seems to carry his hands to the ball pretty well, though and I like his head position. His front shoulder also doesn't fly open prematurely. But his swing isn't all that balanced. I don't see how he is going to handle the down and away stuff very well right now, either. But he will kill anything down and in. So he has some work to do. His future may be at first base unless there is a marked improvement in his ability to flag down hard ground balls.
Name: Ogata, Yoshinori/SS
Born: 8/5/1978
Birthplace: ?
Height: 5'9" Weight: 154 pounds
Bats: Left Throws: Right
High School: Nichidai Fujisawa High School
College: Nihon University
Industrial League: Honda Motors
Comments: Started playing baseball in fourth grade. Played in one Koshient Tournament. Athletic enough to play just about any position on the field save catcher or pitcher, good throwing arm, fast, good batspeed. Says he wants to be a 30-30-.300 guy. Once suffered a torn knee ligament in a collision with his second baseman in college and had to have it operated on again two years ago, but is reportedly fully recovered now. For somebody with his speed, needs to hit the ball on the ground more. Tries to power the ball rather than just hit line drives all over the lot. Tends to also pull off a bit just before contact. Will wear 00.
Name: Nibe, Satoshi/P
Born: 1/10/1980
Birthplace: Honjo, Akita Prefecture
Height: 5'5" Weight: 140 pounds
Bats: Left Throws: Left
High School: Honjo High School
College: Tohoku Gakuin University
Industrial League: TDK
Comments: Started playing baseball in fourth grade. Began pitching as an eighth grader. Struckout nine straight in a game as a college junior. Had a 16 strikeout game against Miyagi Kyoiku University. In his final season at university, fanned 82 in 75 innings to lead the league in that department. Will become the shortest currently active player in Japanese pro ball. The first ever player to go from TDK's 35 year old industrial league program to the pros. Despite his small size, generates a 91mph max fastball and reportedly has good tilt on his pitches, which also includes a big curve ball, changeup and slider. Is thinking of adding a shuuto. Has good control, will throw inside and has something of a chip on his shoulder when he faces hitters. Was taken deep just once total in his two years with TDK. Will be used in middle relief and wear number 34.
Yokohama
Yokohama, now that it is relatively stocked with promising young hitting, concentrated on solving their significant pitching problems and their number one draft pick, Daisuke Mori, will help serve that aim. Going into 2004, he is, in fact, my odds on pick for Rookie of the Year. Their second rounder could also loom large, as they strive to dig themselves out of the CL cellar. By the way, the four players are the fewest that the Stars have ever drafted, and they did it purely for economic reasons. That is a mistake for a club that also needs to shore up its defense and bullpen. Moreover, they will be hurting bigtime at short if Takuro Ishii goes out for any pronounced period of time.
Name: Mori, Daisuke/P
Born: 8/31/1982
Birthplace: Ishikawa Prefecture
Height: 5'11" Weight: 187 pounds
Bats: Left Throws: Left
High School: Nanao Kogyo High School
College: N/A
Industrial League: Mitsubishi Fuso Kawasaki
Comments: Started playing baseball in third grade. Began pitching in fifth grade. Was his team's ace in high school. Had a 23 strikeout no hitter in a prefectural tournament game as a senior. Heavy fastball peaks at 92mph and pairs it with a hard slider. Mechanically, he is one good looking kid except for a little recoil right at the end after he has delivered the ball. The way he uses his back and comes out over his front foot is something that all youngsters should emulate. This should keep his control and command sound and his very good weight transfer generates good explosion toward the plate. If he can stay back just a hair longer, there is no reason why he couldn't torque that heater up into the 94-95mph range. But even with his good finish, his curve ball has a tendency to just spin up there, so he needs to either polish it or lose it. He should go right into the starting rotation for the Stars and will be a rookie of the year candidate. Outside of Takahiro Mahara, who signed with Daiei, Mahara, Mori is the most exciting player in this draft class. However, he has had occasional back problems and recently recovered from an elbow inflammation, so strengthening the elbow and keeping his back loose should be the focus of the Stars coaches and trainers. The Beyond Pacific scout thinks Mori is a future major leaguer and I heartily concur. MPG File
Name: Yoshikawa, Teruaki/P
Born: 11/13/1981
Birthplace: Saga Prefecture
Height: 6'1" Weight: 209 pounds
Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Kyuragi High School
College: Nihon Bunri University
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Will be used in middle relief. Both started and relieved in college. Throws a heavy 93mph fastball along with a good curve ball, a slider, an occasional cutter, and diving forkball. Still needs to do some work to smooth out his mechanics, especially in how he turns on his back foot to go to the plate since his ankle and knee rotate a little unnaturally just as he delivers the pitch. It's like he is trying to circle the plate as he gets his arm up. He also falls off just a bit toward first. Better concentration late in the count is called for, too. All of these should be easily correctable. Told the press he would like to add a changeup and sharpen his slider. He does field his position well and holds runners deftly. One paper said he had "an America style of pitching." Unfortunately, he will also have to watch his weight, since his body type is one that gets fat easily.
Name: Ushida, Shigeki/P
Born: 12/6/1981
Birthplace: Komatsushima, Tokushima Prefecture
Height: 6'2" Weight: 185 pounds
Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Tokushima Shogyo High School
College: Meiji University
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Started playing baseball in fourth grade. Learned to throw the forkball in ninth grade. Was his team's pitching ace in high school. Played in one Koshien Tournament. Both worked long relief and started in college, going 6-5 lifetime there. Majored in business. Allowed just one hit total to Takashi Toritani in four years. Runs it up to the plate out of no windup right over the top at around 92mph max and has good sink on his outpitch, a forkball, and a nice hard slider. A Yokohama scout is quoted as insisting that Ushida's splitter is harder for hitters to read than Kazuhiro Sasaki's. Another report claims that his forkball drops 16 inches. His curve ball also does its job nicely. Has very good mechanics. However, he experienced a circulatory problem in his throwing arm this past year, which is a concern. Gets good tilt on his pitches. He was supposedly scouted by San Diego. Hobby is singing karaoke. Admires Chunichi pitcher Kenshin Kawakami and former Lotte hurler Choji Murata.
Name: Kuremoto, Shigenori/3B
Born: 4/8/1981
Birthplace: Nagano Prefecture
Height: 5'11" Weight: 176 pounds
Bats: Right Throws: Right
High School: Matsusho Gakuen High School
College: Meiji University
Industrial League: N/A
Comments: Was his team's cleanup hitter and captain in college. Was originally a first baseman at Meiji, but made the transition across the diamond in 2003. Coming into 2003, had batted .273 with three homers and 16 RBIs in 56 games. He is rated as a bit of a project at the plate, as they will focus on helping him make more frequent contact. But if they are successful in fixing his faults, they think they have a slugger on their hands. He does, though, inside out the ball pretty well.
Special Thanks
My gratiitude goes out to the Beyond Pacific Scouting Service and Yakyu Kozo for information and data that aided me in putting this report together.
Change in Reporting Schedule
The holidays are over, so with this, I will be back to filing reports everyday or almost at that rate, as we are turning the corner on the road to Spring Training. See you tomorrow.
